Accuracy of 16-row multislice computerized tomography angiography for assessment of intracranial aneurysms.
BACKGROUND
Sixteen-row multislice CT has great potential for use in vascular studies. The aim of the study was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of 16-row multislice CTA in detecting intracranial aneurysms compared with 2D-DSA and surgical findings.


METHODS
One hundred fifty-two consecutive patients were included in the study and successively underwent 16-slice CTA, 2D-DSA, and surgery in some patients. This was performed with a 16-row multislice CT machine, detector slice of 0.75 mm, reconstruction interval of 0.40 mm, and timing determined by bolus trigger. The 16-slice CTA and 2D-DSA results were evaluated independently by 3 different neuroradiologists who performed aneurysm detection using MIP, SSD, and VRT.


RESULTS
With the combination of 16-slice CTA, 2D-DSA, and intraoperative findings, 92 aneurysms were detected in 86 of the 152 patients. Two aneurysms were missed when 16-slice CTA was used. Three aneurysms were not clearly depicted at 2D-DSA, but proven at surgery. There was no statistically significant difference in sensitivity between 16-slice CTA and 2D-DSA (P = 1.0). The sensitivity of 16-slice CTA for detecting aneurysms <4 mm, between 4 and 10 mm, and >10 mm was 96% (95% CI: 79.6%-99.9%), 98.1% (95% CI: 89.7%-100%), and 100% (95% CI: 78.2%-100%), respectively, on a per-aneurysm basis. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 16-slice CTA for detecting aneurysms were 97.8% (95% CI: 92.4%-99.7%), 100% (95% CI: 94.6%-100%), and 98.7% (95% CI: 95.5%-99.8%), respectively, on a per-aneurysm basis.


CONCLUSIONS
Sixteen-slice CTA shows promising diagnostic accuracy that appears to be comparable with 2D-DSA for the detection of suspected intracranial aneurysms, and 16-slice CTA is sensitive enough to replace 2D-DSA in detecting aneurysms.
Chen
Wenhua
W
Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, P.R. China. chewenhua@tom.com
Wang
Jie
J
Xing
Wei
W
Xu
Qing
Q
Qiu
Jianguo
J
Huang
Qingjuan
Q
Sun
Yifang
Y
Yu
Shengnan
S
Peng
Ya
Y
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015901:Angiography, Digital Subtraction / Q000379:methods*; D002533:Cerebral Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016343:Monitoring, Intraoperative; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013345:Subarachnoid Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*